Middle school awards top students with bags full of pork

To reward its finest students for their hard work and good grades last semester, a middle school in Zhejiang is giving out bags packed full of pork.The top 45 students at Shiqiaotou Town Middle School were honored by bringing home the bacon to their families last Friday. The best students received a 2.5kg bag of pork, while the next level came away with a 1.5kg bag, presumably absolutely squealing with joy.Apparently, this has actually been going on for three years at the innovative school in Wenling near Shanghai. According to China News, the headmaster explains that he had chosen pork because it was a “down to earth” gift that could be shared with the entire family.The previous reward system had been just to give the kids some cash — 50 yuan, the equivalent of 2.5kg of pork at the time. The price of pork has since gone up, but the headmaster has stubbornly stuck to giving his top students that same amount. Hopefully, it doesn’t break the piggy bank too much.One exemplary student said that while his parents had initially been bewildered by the reward, they have since grown used to it, freely gifting some of the pork around to show off their son’s accomplishments at school.This once again shows that China could switch its currency from the RMB to pork and barely skip a beat.[Images via CCTV]